


Sing Me

by hero_hero



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Camping, Crack, Fae & Fairies, Fluff, Forbidden Love, Happy Ending, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Mystery, Strangers to Lovers, Supernatural Elements, Suspense, Unbeta'd, just 3racha being lovable dorks tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:20:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25362289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hero_hero/pseuds/hero_hero
Summary: Chan and Jisung take Changbin camping for his birthday, where they do all the classic camping activities, like stargazing, roasting marshmallows, and not showering for a few days (ew).However, when Chan decides to follow the tradition of telling scary stories around the campfire, the three of them realize that his scary story is eerily similar to their current situation…
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Felix, Kim Seungmin/Seo Changbin, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 178
Collections: Summer Boy





	Sing Me

**Author's Note:**

> For the Changbin Summer fic fest!
> 
> [ Day 6: Campfire & Day 10: Birthday ]

“Figured out where we’re going yet?” Jisung is literally on the edge of his seat, grinning from ear-to-ear, and bouncing with excitement. He’s leaning in between the two front seats like a hyperactive little kid.

“Um.” Changbin looks out the passenger window, at the rolling green hills dappled with horses and cows, as well as the indigo mountains in the distance. “I’m guessing it’s not Vegas.”

“Better than that!” Chan says from beside him in the driver’s seat, also grinning. Everyone is so smiley today.

“Oh, boy, _better_ than that?” Changbin plays along and gives them his own lopsided grin. “Damn, you guys did this all for me?”

He knows where they’re going. He saw the camping gear in the back, as well as a massive bag of marshmallows and an entire cooler of booze. Jisung even threw in his old, beat-up guitar that Changbin _knows_ he hasn’t used in about three years. But, hey, they’re excited. Changbin can understand that.

“Almost there!” Chan says about ten minutes later, when they pass the sign of the campground (Yellowwood National Park) and start heading up a gentle, curving road. It really is beautiful here—the trees are tall and lush, the undergrowth is so, so green, and, if Changbin rolls down the window, he can hear all kinds of birds singing. Such a drastic difference from the city.

He rolls down the window anyways, just to breathe in the fresh air, the smell of the forest. Nothing quite beats the sharp tang of pine trees, the warm, husky sunshine, and the refreshing trace of rain.

The road climbs the gentle hill, at the top of which is a tiny log cabin. Chan pulls up alongside it, where a lady with ruddy cheeks, a big smile, and a wide-brimmed hat leans out the window.

“Welcome to Yellowwood National Park!” she says. “Got a reservation or just need a day pass?”

“Ta-daaa!” Jisung exclaims as Chan talks to the lady—who’s actually a park ranger, judging by her greenish-gray uniform and her shiny badge. “Yellowwood! Camping! And hiking! And marshmallows and scary stories around the campfire and fighting off mosquitos and bugs and possibly bears!” Jisung is _still_ grinning from ear-to-ear. “Happy birthday, Bin!”

“Whoa, you guys made camp reservations just for me?” Changbin says as Chan takes the welcome packet of information from the park ranger and continues driving down the road. The road meanders this way and that like a garden path, the asphalt dappled with the afternoon light through the trees lining each side. Changbin looks out the window again, now hoping he’ll see some wildlife. Maybe a herd of deer or some elk? Or bison! Did they get bison up here?

“Yep, for five days and four nights!” Chan says. “It was my idea, actually.”

“And mine!” Jisung says.

“And Jisung’s,” Chan says. “It was a group effort. We even got a _huge_ site so we won’t have to worry about being right on top of other people. And—”

“ _AND_ it’s on the lake!” Jisung interrupts.

“ _And_ we’re close to the bathrooms,” Chan adds, breathing a sigh of relief. “I pushed for that one. Bathrooms are important. And lucky for us, these bathrooms have running water.”

Changbin frowns. “Don’t they usually?”

“Nope! Sometimes they’re just vault toilets.”

“What the hell is a vault toilet?”

“It’s a dark, tiny, brick room with spiders and dead bugs all over it and a toilet that doesn’t flush,” Chan says.

“Yeah and there’s a giant cavern underneath the toilet so when you do your business, it all just…falls down in there.” Jisung grins. “One giant mountain, right under your butt.”

Changbin’s eyes widen. “Great. _Thanks,_ Jisung, I’m never going to be able to get that image out of my head whenever I go to the bathroom.”

“You’re welcome!” Jisung says brightly. “You also gotta balance _just_ right or else you’ll lose your balance and splash into—”

“Oh my god, stop, stop, stop!” Changbin waves his hands. “Gross!”

Jisung laughs at that. “Too much for rich, city-slicker Changbin?”

“Dude, literally all of us grew up in the city! We’re like the last people you’d expect to be into camping.”

“Exactly! That’s why it’ll be fun!”

“Oh, hey, look, we’re here!” Chan says, cutting off their conversation as he pulls into a paved driveway, at the end of which stands a marker with their site number and reservation. He puts the car in park and grins. “This is nice! Look, we’ve got that field to ourselves over there, and can you check out that _view_!”

Of course, he’s talking about the mountain range, just barely visible at the other end of the massive lake, which is so large that they almost can’t see the other side of it. It’s an incredible view, Changbin has to agree. He can’t wait to see it at sunset or sunrise.

“Dare you to jump into that lake,” he tells Jisung, grinning and elbowing him.

“Oh, you are _on_ ,” Jisung says, already unbuckling.

“Wait, unpack first, play later!” Chan says, but Changbin and Jisung are already jumping out of the car and running across the field to the lake.

Changbin thinks he hears Chan groan, but he knows Chan will give in and come down to the lake too. They can stretch their legs a bit before they unpack everything.

They sprint towards the lake, slipping off their shoes as they run. Changbin tries to shove Jisung to slow him down, but Jisung nimbly dodges and uses the opportunity to pull ahead. He lets out a loud whoop as he reaches the water first, splashing into it. Not even a split second later, he’s yelping and screaming, “It’s so cold!!”

Changbin laughs and leaps into the water, splashing Jisung with more of the water in the process. Unfortunately, the floor of the lake is much more slippery than he expects, so he doesn’t land it correctly. Instead he falls on his ass in the freezing cold water, which sends Jisung into a laughing fit.

Changbin grins, though a bit embarrassed and cold. He splashes Jisung, who yelps and slips and falls in too, getting completely soaked. Changbin points at him and laughs.

“Oh, boy,” Chan says as he walks up to them, staying well away from the water. “We haven’t even been here for _five minutes!_ ”

Changbin responds by splashing at him, though Chan is out of the splash zone, so he’s unaffected. He still grins, though.

They play in the water for a few more minutes, until Jisung almost slices open his foot on a sharp rock and Chan calls it a day. They trudge back to the campsite, dripping wet and muddy but otherwise happy.

Changbin can’t help smiling. Despite the fact that the three of them have literally never gone camping like this before, he has a feeling that this will be a good trip.

Who knows, maybe it’ll even help him get out of his creative rut. One can only dream, he supposes.

For now, though, he focuses on helping the others set up camp.

*

“Wait, which part’s the front?” Jisung is twisting the tent around, frowning. Somehow he’s already tangled in it, and Chan looks like he’s dying a little bit more inside every time Jisung steps on the fabric and leaves a dusty footprint behind.

“You know what, let me just pitch the tent,” Chan says, gently taking the tent from Jisung. “You, uh, go get some water. Go take that bucket up to the water spigot by the bathrooms and fill it about halfway.”

“He’s gonna pull a muscle doing that,” Changbin says, content from watching all of this from the sidelines with his arms crossed.

“Alright, then you do it, Bin. Sung, you…unpack the food.”

Jisung gives Chan a salute. “Rodger that, Captain!”

Chan just groans and turns back to sorting out the tent.

Changbin picks up the water bucket and walks past Jisung, who’s rummaging through the back of the car for the food like the squirrel he is. Changbin snorts and walks up to the bathrooms, where he finds the water spigot easily and fills the entire bucket. He has to walk back slowly to avoid spilling any of the water.

Once Chan finishes setting up the tent, and they toss all of their camp mats and sleeping bags in there, they focus on starting a fire. Jisung is very enthusiastic about it, and Chan is patient with him, but when Jisung almost lights his hair on fire, Chan decides to take over. Changbin again watches from the sidelines as he puts hot dogs on their roasting sticks, since he doubts Jisung will be able to do it without poking his eye out in the process.

Soon, Chan has a roaring fire, and the three of them sit down on a log with their hot dogs. Chan coaches them through roasting it correctly, even guiding their hands closer to the flames.

“But I don’t want it to burn,” Jisung protests.

“It won’t cook that far from the fire,” Chan explains. “Besides, unlike marshmallows, hot dogs don’t burn _that_ easily.”

Changbin realizes that he’s enjoying himself as he roasts his own hot dog. That is, until the fire sputters and starts to smoke more than usual, and the smoke drifts right towards where Changbin is sitting.

Jisung laughs at him when Changbin starts coughing from the smoke and has to stand and step to the other side of the fire ring. But the joke is on him, because soon the smoke drifts towards where _he’s_ sitting, and soon all three of them are standing on the opposite side of the fire ring.

“Ah, campfire,” Chan says with a smile. “Smells good now, smells _awful_ later. I swear it clings to _everything._ ”

“Do we get showers?” Changbin asks.

Jisung snorts. “Pfft, showers are for losers. No showering while we camp—we sweat and smell like men!”

“Well you can be ‘manly’ by yourself and sleep outside the tent when you start to stink,” Changbin says.

“There are showers up at the bathrooms,” Chan tells Changbin. “We can go tonight after we put the fire out.”

“Thank god,” Changbin mutters.

Once they finish cooking their hot dogs, they put them on buns, load them up with condiments, and then sit back down by the fire to eat them. All three of them go back for seconds, and Jisung breaks out a bag of chips, which he passes around to the other two. After they’ve finished eating, Chan shows them how to properly roast marshmallows and how to make s’mores.

“The key is to get them this golden brown on the outside,” Chan says. “That means they’re crispy on the outside and gooey in the middle. Delicious.”

And Jisung promptly starts screaming because his marshmallow catches on fire.

“Not to brag, but I got mine right on the first try,” Changbin says with a smug smirk when he makes his s’more, while Jisung is still pouting as he roasts his second marshmallow.

If Changbin thought the hot dogs were good, the s’mores are on a completely different level. He makes and eats four, knowing he’ll regret it later. And he does, almost immediately. But it’s worth it, he decides.

They sit around the campfire, completely content with their bloated stomachs. At one point, Chan looks up at the stars and gasps in excitement. “Look! The stars are so bright here!”

He then goes on to point out several different constellations. He tells them some of the stories behind them, but Changbin has a difficult time following since he can’t see the exact shapes Chan is talking about. He finds that he’s happy just listening to Chan speak so passionately about astronomy, especially when a thin ribbon of light streaks across the sky. Chan gasps again and almost pitches forward into the fire from how excited he is.

“A shooting star!” he says. “Quick, make a wish!”

“I wish for a million bucks,” Jisung says.

“Not out loud,” Chan says. “In your head. Now that one won’t come true.”

“Damn,” Jisung says.

Changbin closes his eyes and thinks about what he wants more than anything in that moment. It’s easy for him to make a wish.

_I wish I could get through my creative block and start creating music again._

When he opens his eyes, he looks up at the sky again, feeling his heart lift with hope that it will come true.

Jisung ruins the moment by standing up and saying, “Welp, I wished for another s’more, and that wish is about to come true.”

“Oh, hey, can you make me one?” Chan asks.

“Nope, sorry, you didn’t wish for one hard enough,” Jisung says.

Chan snorts at that.

They fall into a comfortable silence again, during which Changbin watches Jisung roast his marshmallow. Jisung roasts it perfectly this time, getting that golden brown color. He grins at Changbin, who snorts and says, “Fifth time’s the charm.”

Jisung pouts at him.

“I think it’s time for a story,” Chan says, bringing their attention back to him.

“You gonna tell one?” Changbin asks.

Chan smiles, but it’s one of his smug smiles that make his eyes sparkle mischievously. In the flickering light of the campfire, he looks somewhat creepy, but Changbin knows that’s the point.

“Have you heard the story about why this campsite is almost always empty?” Chan asks in a low voice. “Why hardly no one reserves this spot, despite it being the best site in the campground?”

“Oh no,” Jisung says through a mouth full of marshmallow. “This is a scary story, isn’t it?”

“You bet.” Chan’s smirk widens.

Jisung whimpers and scoots closer to Changbin, who smiles.

“There’s a reason why this campsite is always open,” Chan says. “It used to be the most popular site. One year, a couple of college boys around the same age as us decided to camp here. They brought a tent, just like us, and were having the time of their lives. They roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, sang songs around the campfire, and stayed up late. It was a full moon that night.”

He pauses to admit, “It’s not a full moon tonight, but it will be on Changbin’s birthday.”

“Oh shit,” Jisung says in a small voice, snuggling even closer to Changbin.

“Eventually, they went to bed,” Chan continues. “But then, one of them woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Since he didn’t want to wake the others, he went out by himself. As he stepped out of the tent, he heard something.”

“Someone screaming bloody murder,” Changbin guesses.

“Nope.” Chan smiles. “He heard someone singing. It was a beautiful song, probably the loveliest he had ever heard. He couldn’t figure out where it was coming at first, but as he stopped and listened for awhile, he realized that it was coming from the lake.”

“He’s gonna walk towards the lake,” Jisung groans.

“He walked towards the lake,” Chan says.

“Called it,” Jisung says.

“There, on the lake, was a dock. That dock isn’t there anymore, since it was destroyed in a massive flood one year,” Chan says. “But at the time, it was brand new. Standing on the dock was a woman dressed in white.”

“Oh, great.” Jisung rolls his eyes. “The usual actions of your average horny, heterosexual college dudebro. He sees a woman and is like, ‘I must approach her!’ And then she kills him. I never feel bad for guys in horror stories like that.”

“Jisung, you _would_ be that guy in horror stories like that,” Changbin says.

“So would Chan,” Jisung scoffs.

“No, Chan would see her and try to give her a blanket because he thinks she’s cold.”

“You guys are ruining my story,” Chan says, pouting.

“Sorry,” Changbin says. “Technically it’s Jisung’s fault. Anyways, continue.”

Jisung elbows him, and Changbin elbows him back.

“So, he saw a woman dressed in white on the dock,” Chan continues, though he sounds a little annoyed now. “And he realized that she was the source of the singing. So he approached her—”

Jisung chokes back a laugh.

“—without really understanding what he was doing.” Chan shoots Jisung a look out of the corner of his eye that says, _behave_. “He felt so compelled by her song that he couldn’t control himself.”

Both Jisung and Changbin groan.

“Not like that, you idiots,” Chan says, swatting at Changbin since he’s the closest.

“He couldn’t _control_ himself,” Jisung mocks, rolling his eyes.

“He literally couldn’t in this case!” Chan says. “Her song was enchanting!”

“Sure, sure. Can you skip to the scary parts?”

Chan sighs, rolls his eyes, and says all in a rush, “When he got close she finally turned and looked at him and he was paralyzed in fear because her eyes were completely gouged out and her jaw was literally unhinged, but it snapped him out of his trance so he turned and ran away. The next day he told his friends about it and they didn’t believe him, but the joke was on them because then they all disappeared the following nights, one by one, until that one guy was the last survivor. They never found his friends again. The end!”

“Yikes,” Jisung says.

“They got eaten by a siren,” Changbin says.

“The thing is, it’s a true story,” Chan says.

Changbin rolls his eyes. “Sure.”

“No, really, I looked it up,” Chan says. “Three college kids went camping here and two of them disappeared. Then the third told them what had happened to him and how he had tried to warn his friends, but no one believed him. I think he ended up coming back here eventually to find them, but then he disappeared too. Creepy, right?”

“He was a serial killer,” Changbin says. “He’s the one who’s responsible for his friends’ disappearances because he killed them. And then he felt so guilty later on that he came back and killed himself. The end!”

“Or they could’ve been eaten by bears!” Jisung says. “It’s always bears.”

“Or it could be a lake monster,” Changbin says.

Jisung gasps. “Nessie!”

“You guys are no fun,” Chan says, but he’s smiling.

“Sorry, can’t handle horror, so I deal with it by making fun of the story,” Jisung says. “I’d like to let you know that I will _not_ be getting out of the tent tonight to go to the bathroom even if my bladder bursts. I’m not risking running into a siren, a serial killer, _or_ a bear. No, thank you.”

“Wait, why did you book this site if you knew that there was a true horror story about it?” Changbin frowns at Chan.

Chan grins. “Oh, would you look at the time. Time for bed, don’t you think? I’m exhausted after driving all day. Tomorrow, we should try this one hike up to a hidden lake. It’s supposed to be just _beautiful_.”

He jumps up and walks away to get the bucket of water, and Jisung whimpers again.

“I hate scary stories,” he says.

Changbin pats his hand. “There, there.”

“Wow, thanks, Bin. I’m so comforted.”

They get ready for bed. Chan takes care of the fire, and Changbin and Jisung pack up all of their food in the car while they brush their teeth. All three of them walk up to the bathrooms together, because Jisung doesn’t want _anyone_ to go by themselves from now on. Then, when they come back, they lock up the car and crawl into the tent.

Jisung insists on being in the middle, leaving Chan and Changbin to act as “buffers.”

“If a bear or a serial killer slashes through the tent, they’ll go for you guys first,” Jisung says.

“Goodnight, Jisung,” Changbin says.

“I hate you, Chan,” Jisung hisses, and Chan giggles.

Soon, they fall asleep.

*

Changbin wakes up in the middle of the night with the uncomfortable realization that he has to go to the bathroom. He rolls over and tries to go back to sleep, figuring he can hold it until morning, but when he can’t doze off no matter how hard he tries, he gives in.

He slips out of the tent, careful not to wake the others.

It’s unnaturally bright outside. He winces at the light and peers up at the sky. It’s not a full moon, but it’s still enough to illuminate the whole campground. Changbin has plenty of light to see by as he walks up to the bathrooms.

When he heads back to the tent, he hears something.

He stops, his ears pricked. It’s soft and slightly haunting, but it makes Changbin’s heart pound. He listens to the melody for a few moments, then hums it to himself and tries to commit it to memory.

Without realizing what’s happening, he starts walking towards the lake, where the song gets louder and louder. He walks along the beach and climbs over driftwood and through some trees leaning out over the water. He comes to a section of the beach that is slightly secluded by trees on both ends, where the moonlight illuminates a dock. Standing on it is the source of the singing—a figure, dressed in all white.

Changbin stops when he sees the dock and the figure, feeling like he has seen this scene before, almost like deja vu. But he can’t remember _where_ he’s seen this before, so he decides it’s not important. He shoves it from his mind.

As he stares, the figure turns towards him. The moment their eyes meet, it snatches Changbin’s breath away.

It’s a young man, taller than Changbin, with long, graceful limbs, and a smooth, perfect face. His eyes are big and round, full of innocence, and his cheeks are somehow angular but slightly chubby, giving him the look of a puppy, almost.

He’s probably the most beautiful person Changbin has ever seen, but that’s not what Changbin is focusing on right now.

“That’s a beautiful song,” Changbin says.

“You like it?” Even the young man’s voice is melodious, though slightly higher and almost more nasally than Changbin expected it to be. Changbin finds himself drifting closer without meaning to.

“I love it,” Changbin says. “Did you write that yourself?”

The young man looks slightly amused at that. “Yes,” he says.

“Amazing,” Changbin says in awe. “Can you sing it again?”

The young man smiles and starts to sing again. Changbin listens, stepping even closer. It’s a short song, so the young man finishes singing quickly. Once he does, Changbin asks, “Okay, I think I’ve got it. Can you sing it one more time for me?”

A flicker of confusion crosses the young man’s face, but he relents.

When he sings this time, Changbin sings with him, but he sings a harmony. The moment their voices blend together, Changbin feels it in his chest, almost like a bolt of lighting has struck him. He can tell that the young man feels it too, based on the way his eyes widen. Changbin smiles, and slowly, the young man starts to smile back.

The song ends, and Changbin realizes that he’s standing on the edge of the dock. He doesn’t remember walking closer, but now he’s less than three feet away from the young man. His beauty is even more breathtaking up-close, yet Changbin is only thinking of his voice, how lovely it is.

The young man stares at him, then admits quietly, “No one has ever sung with me before.”

“I’m a musician myself,” Changbin says.

“Ah.” The young man nods politely, though he looks like he doesn’t believe him.

“Actually, I’ve been going through a major creative block lately,” Changbin says. “But I think you just helped me get through it. Your song kind of reminded me of why I love music so much. So, thank you.” He smiles.

The young man smiles back at him, after a moment. Changbin can’t help thinking that his smile is somewhat sad.

“What are you doing out here so late at night, anyways?” Changbin asks.

“Oh, um.” The young man looks away. “Waiting.”

“For who?”

The young man’s eyes are on something behind Changbin. Changbin glances over his shoulder and thinks he sees some shadows moving in the forest, but he can’t be sure. He looks back at the young man. He can’t quite put his finger on it, but something seems off about him. Strange, Changbin didn’t notice it before.

“For you,” the young man says, smiling. There’s something suggestive to his smile now.

“Oh, well, I’m flattered,” Changbin says. “But, uh, do you even know me?”

“No,” the young man admits. “But do I need to?” He reaches out and brushes the back of his hand across Changbin’s cheekbone.

“Well, no, but that’s a little bit of a dealbreaker for me,” Changbin says, taking a step back. “I mean no offense, but I like to get to know people a bit before I sleep with them. Makes it feel more special, you know? Maybe we can do this again, same time tomorrow night? I’d love to get to know you more.”

The young man is frowning at him, looking deeply annoyed, but he doesn’t stop Changbin from retreating a few more steps until he’s on the beach instead of the dock.

But then the young man smiles again and says, “Of course. I look forward to meeting you again.”

“Cool.” Changbin grins and flashes a thumbs-up. “You have a gorgeous voice by the way. Makes sense why you’d use it to woo people. I bet you get a lot of luck from it. But anyways, have a good night! Drink lots of water to take care of your voice!”

The young man doesn’t smile this time. Instead, he just watches Changbin with a strange expression on his face as Changbin turns and walks back to the campsite. Changbin sees some movement in the trees again. Once or twice, he feels like he’s being watched, and when he glances back at the shadows, he swears he sees a pale face looking out at him. But when he blinks, it’s gone.

He goes back into the tent to find Jisung cuddling Chan, while Chan is completely dead to the world. Changbin almost takes a picture, especially since Chan is breathing through his mouth again and looks hilarious, but instead, he just goes back to bed.

When he falls asleep, he dreams of the young man at the dock.

*

The next day, the three of them go hiking, as planned. They do a four-mile round-trip hike up to another lake fed by four different waterfalls. Chan was right—the lake _is_ beautiful. It’s almost unreal, especially since Changbin has never seen that water that turquoise in-person. It looks like an edited photograph, which makes it even better when he realizes that it’s real.

As they walk back to the trailhead in the late afternoon, though, Changbin can’t help glancing towards the forest surrounding them when he gets the prickling sensation of being watched. He swears he sees someone standing in the trees, watching him. Another time he sees a path diverging from the main trail. He only notices because the path is lined with mushrooms. He stops, and as he stares, he steps towards it without even realizing it. Chan stops him by grabbing him by the back of the shirt, though he looks confused.

They arrive back at the campsite at sunset. Chan starts to build a fire, though he sends Jisung into the woods to get some more kindling. Changbin gets the food out of the car again; they’re cooking marinated chicken over the campfire tonight. Then he stands off to the side, his eyes drifting to the lake. The surface is dazzling in the sunset, practically mesmerizing. Changbin thinks of the young man standing on the dock again and wonders if he’s there already, waiting for him.

Instead of walking there, though, he deliberately sits down at the fire.

“You’ve been kind of out of it today,” Chan remarks. “You okay?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” Changbin smiles. “Why do you ask?”

“You’ve just kinda had this dazed look in your eye.” Chan grins suddenly. “You high?”

Changbin snorts and shoves him. “Yeah, _clearly_.”

“Why didn’t you share some with me? I thought we were bros, man.” Chan laughs and goes back to poking at the fire.

Changbin watches the flames grow over the logs. Jisung isn’t back yet, so Chan had to use some of the kindling from last night to coax the flames up onto the bigger logs.

“Jisung’s been gone for awhile,” Chan remarks, glancing over his shoulder at the forest. “Like…twenty minutes. Think he got lost?”

“I can go look for him, if you want,” Changbin says.

“That’d be good. Just to make sure he’s okay. You have your phone, right?”

“Yep.”

“Good.”

Changbin walks into the forest, unable to stop himself from shivering when the chill of the shadows washes over him. He walks in deeper, calling out, “Sung! You alive?”

There’s no response, so he walks in deeper.

It’s much darker than he thought it would be, and he trips a few times over the uneven ground. Once again he feels like something is watching him, and that’s before a laugh echoes through the woods. Changbin whirls around just in time to see a figure dart behind a nearby tree.

“Creepy,” Changbin says, and turns to keep walking.

At that moment, it’s as though the ground comes up and grabs at him. He trips and blindly grabs onto something to stop himself from falling. When he looks up to see what he grabbed onto, he finds himself looking into the eyes of the young man from the docks.

“Oh.” Changbin blinks at him. “Hi.”

“Hi,” the young man says.

“Going for a walk?” Changbin straightens up and takes a step back. He releases the young man’s arm.

“I’m just out and about,” the young man says. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, looking for my friend. He wandered off.”

“Want some help?”

Changbin smiles. “Sure. You haven’t happened to see a guy with round cheeks and blonde hair who kinda looks like a cute chipmunk pass through here, have you?”

“I might have,” the young man says. “What’s his name?”

“Jisung,” Changbin says. “He probably just got lost.”

“I’ll help you.”

“Thanks.” Changbin smiles at him as they start to walk through the forest. “What’s your name, by the way?”

“You can call me Seungmin,” the young man says.

“Seungmin.” Changbin smiles. “That’s pretty. Just like you.”

Seungmin gives a small smile. “And your name?” he asks.

“Ah, well, _you_ can call me Changbin.” Changbin uses the same wording in an attempt to flirt a little, but he sees the way Seungmin grimaces.

“A strong name for a strong man,” Seungmin says.

“You think I’m strong?” Changbin lifts up his arm and flexes. “You know the real reason why I have these guns?”

“Oh, do tell.”

“To give better hugs.” Changbin smiles at him.

Seungmin blinks at that.

“Plus I just feel happier about myself with some muscle, you know?” Changbin puts his arm down. “Working out to be fit and healthy is really important. Makes you feel so much better.”

“I see,” Seungmin says.

Changbin smiles at him and forces himself to focus on looking for Jisung. He calls out Jisung’s name a few times, but he never gets a response.

“Okay, now I’m worried,” Changbin says. “What if something happened to him? What if a bear ate him? Or what if there’s a serial killer wandering in the forest and he got him? I know that seems irrational, but honestly these woods are creepy and _anyone_ could be—” he stops when he realizes that the only person he’s seen in these woods…is Seungmin. And how he met Seungmin on the docks…on the night of a full moon…just like in Chan’s story from last night.

Just like that, he snaps out of the haze he’s been in all day, and he curses himself for being so stupid.

He shoots a quick glance at Seungmin, who is already looking at him like he can read his mind.

“Something wrong, Changbin?” Seungmin asks.

“Nope.” Changbin quickly looks away. His heart is beginning to pound in his chest. Something is wrong. He really needs to find Jisung.

Then he remembers that he left Chan alone at the campsite, and his heart rate increases further.

“I’m, uh, just going to call my friend real quick.” Changbin pulls out his phone to call Chan. He curses under his breath when he sees that he has no service. He didn’t even think about that.

It’s getting darker, now. The sun has set completely, and although the sky is still somewhat light through the canopy of trees overhead, Changbin knows that the moon will soon be rising.

He glances at Seungmin again, who thankfully has stopped staring at him, and focuses on what he’ll do next. Chan should be fine. He’s by a campfire. Campfires are practically universal safe zones to ward off evil creatures. Plus, Chan knows how to throw a mean punch. It’s Jisung—sweet, gullible Jisung—whom Changbin needs to worry about.

And also the fact that there’s very possibly a ghost, demon, _or_ serial killer standing next to him. Can’t forget about that.

Changbin decides to treat Seungmin the same as he treats everyone, though—with kindness and respect.

“So, what did you do today?” he asks, trying to keep it light.

“I…just stayed in the forest,” Seungmin says.

“Did you learn any new songs?”

“No.”

“You know, I actually have some songs, if you want to listen.” Changbin pulls out his phone again when he remembers that he downloaded all of their mixtapes. “I know they’re not really your genre, but I have one or two that you might like!”

Seungmin looks at him as he pulls up “Broken Compass.”Changbin holds his breath and presses play.

Seungmin stays oddly silent throughout the song, but Changbin watches his expression out of the corner of his eye. His eyes grow soft—fond, almost—though Changbin thinks he can detect some sadness in them, too. The faintest trace of a smile appears on his lips, and Changbin can’t help smiling hopefully.

When the song finishes, Changbin realizes that he’s still holding his breath. But Seungmin just says softly, “That was beautiful.”

“You liked it?” Changbin exhales and smiles. “I like it, too.”

“Do you have more songs?”

“Yeah, do you want to listen?”

Seungmin nods, and Changbin plays “Placebo.” Seungmin listens just as intently, which distracts him like Changbin hoped it would. Changbin turns his attention to scanning their entire surroundings for any sign of Jisung—or even any sign of those moving shadows again.

He spots a shadow dart behind a tree, and he clenches his jaw in determination.

Before he can take one step after it, though, Seungmin says, “Changbin.”

Changbin looks back at him, unable to keep himself from looking wary.

Seungmin gazes at him for a few moments before seeming to relent. He sighs and says, “Look over there.” He points.

Changbin follows his finger and sees a clearing up ahead—a clearing that was definitely not there before. In the clearing is an old tent, torn and patched in some places. Standing in front of the tent is Jisung, who’s deep in conversation with someone Changbin doesn’t recognize.

“Jisung!” Changbin shouts, making Jisung jump and look at him. Changbin runs to him and throws his arms around him. He can tell that Jisung is startled by the way Jisung stiffens and awkwardly pats Changbin’s back.

“Oh, hey, Bin,” Jisung says. “Uh, what’s up?”

“I’ve been looking for you forever!” Changbin says, gripping Jisung’s shoulders and taking a step back to look at him. “You’ve been gone for like an hour.”

Jisung blinks. “What? I have? I thought I’ve only been gone for a few minutes.”

Changbin shakes his head. “It’s already sunset.”

Jisung blinks again and looks up. Changbin follows his gaze, realizing that the clearing is much brighter than the rest of the forest, almost like it’s still midday here. But the trees overhead are so leafy that they block out the sky, hiding from view the fact that it’s actually well after sunset.

“Weird,” Jisung says.

Changbin tugs at his arm. “Let’s head back. Chan’s probably worrying himself to death.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah.” Jisung glances at the stranger he was talking to. It’s another young man, who’s a bit shorter than Seungmin, but with lilac hair and golden skin, as well as a spattering of freckles across his face. He’s just as lovely as Seungmin, but Changbin still prefers Seungmin’s cold beauty to this stranger’s sun-kissed one.

“I’ll see you later?” Jisung tells the stranger.

The stranger smiles. “I hope so.”

Jisung smiles back, and Changbin looks between the two of them, thinking, _oh no._

“You wouldn’t happen to know the way back to the campsite, would you?” Changbin asks Seungmin.

“It’s not far,” Seungmin says, pointing.

Changbin looks where he’s pointing, and suddenly the edge of the forest is right there. It’s sunset again, and Chan is sitting by the fire, just as Changbin left him.

Changbin blinks at the change and opens his mouth to say something, but when he turns to look back at Seungmin, he finds that Seungmin, the stranger, and the clearing with the tent are gone. Now there’s nothing but the forest behind him and Jisung.

“That…was weird,” Jisung says, frowning. “You saw that too, right? I’m not hallucinating?”

“You are not hallucinating,” Changbin says. “For once.”

“Hey!”

They walk back to the campfire, where Chan looks up and smiles at them.

“That was fast,” he says. To Jisung, he says, “Let me guess—you got distracted by a pretty flower or some cute animal?”

“No, there was this cute guy in the forest,” Jisung says. “His name is Felix.”

Chan arches an eyebrow at that.

“Changbin found a cute guy too,” Jisung says.

Chan’s eyes shift to Changbin.

“I have no idea what he’s talking about,” Changbin says innocently.

Jisung shoves him, and Changbin can’t help grinning. That gets Chan to smile, and soon he’s beckoning them to the fire and chastising Jisung for getting distracted by cute guys and forgetting to pick up kindling on the way. When Jisung offers to go get some more, Changbin quickly pulls him back down to the log bench.

“On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t wander around in the forest alone anymore,” Jisung says.

“Good idea,” Changbin says.

Jisung laughs.

Their conversation diverges at that point to something harmless, like how Jisung thinks he’s gotten a sunburn on his nose, and Chan mentions their plans to go to the town and the swim beach tomorrow. Changbin partially listens, though he finds himself staring into the flames, lost in thought.

Mostly, he’s thinking about Seungmin, and the way the forest changed around them, and how Changbin always feels as though he’s being watched. He thinks about Seungmin singing, and how he’s _sure_ Seungmin is connected to the story Chan told them, and how the stranger—Felix—might be connected to it too.

He also thinks about how lucky he was that he found Jisung, because something tells him that if he had been a mere few seconds slower, Jisung would still be missing, probably doomed to wander around in an ever-changing forest for eternity.

There’s something off about this forest and the people in it. It could be magical and harmless, or it could be some dark secret planning to doom them all.

What ever it is, Changbin is determined to figure it out.

*

The following day, they walk around the town a bit and visit its multiple shops, most of which are either selling clothes or cheap novelty souvenirs. Jisung buys a couple of large t-shirts with the Yellowwood National Park logo written on it, Chan gets a hoodie, and Changbin decides to buy a hat. They buy lunch at the most popular tourist cafe and sit out to eat their overpriced meals on the patio, which overlooks the lake, the same lake upon which the campground sits on the other side.

After lunch, they head to the swim beach, which is bustling with families with little kids as well as groups of teenagers and college kids. It’s loud and crowded, but the three of them don’t care. Instead, they waste no time running into the water, where Chan decides to pick up Jisung and throw him into the deep end. Jisung pops back up sputtering but grinning, and makes it his goal for the rest of the day to catch Chan unawares and dunk him into the lake. He succeeds only once.

At one point, they stretch out on the sandy beach, where Chan promptly falls asleep on his stomach, leaving his entire back exposed to the sun. Changbin drapes his towel over him to keep him from burning. Then he pulls out his phone, where he stares at his notes app for a few moments, trying to think of the right words. He has done this multiple times in the past, though recently, nothing has come out of it. It’s as though he reaches for his usual reservoir of creative expression only to find it drained.

Now, though, he finds the reservoir intact, and he smiles to himself as he starts typing out lyrics to a new song.

Just like last night, they arrive back at the campsite around sunset, all tanned and a bit burned and exhausted but happy. Changbin is happy.

“No wandering off into the forest alone this time,” Changbin tells Jisung, who pouts.

“But I wanna see Felix again,” Jisung says. “He’s so cute and sweet and his _voice_ —oh my god it’s so deep and smooth and I just wanna drown in it.”

Changbin gives him a weird look and reiterates, “ _No_.”

Jisung pouts again, but he obeys. Changbin is glad for that, because otherwise he would have had to tie him to the picnic table.

They cook burgers this time on a portable stove that Chan brought, then they sit at the table and play cards. Chan also takes out his bluetooth speaker and plays some background music. Jisung nods along to some of it and even dramatically lip-syncs to some of the songs to their amusement. Then it turns into a bit of a competition—a lip-sync battle—where each of them tries to do the best lip-sync performance. They give it their all, but Jisung wins. He decides then to take the rest of the chocolate bars as his prize, and Changbin chases him around the campsite to get them back while Chan laughs and shouts at them to be careful. Changbin still doesn’t get the chocolate bars back in the end.

Soon, they quiet down. Jisung looks like he’s dozing off as Chan shuffles the cards to play Go Fish. Changbin hums along to the song playing and glances towards the lake. He half-expects to see Seungmin standing there, but the beach is empty. For some reason, his heart sinks in disappointment.

They call it a night earlier than usual.

When they crawl into their sleeping bags, Chan yawns and asks Changbin what he wants to do tomorrow on his birthday.

Changbin thinks for a moment, then shrugs. “Doing another hike sounds nice. And then we can just relax in the afternoon or go to the swim beach to cool off again.”

“And then we’ll eat out in the town for your birthday dinner,” Jisung says.

Chan lifts his head to shoot him a look. “That was supposed to be a _surprise_ , idiot.”

“Oh. Oops.”

Changbin grins. “That sounds nice. Honestly, we can just play it by ear. I’m not picky.”

“You’re gonna be so old tomorrow,” Jisung says as they all start to doze off.

“Fuck off,” Changbin mumbles without any heat. Jisung giggles anyways.

Changbin falls asleep, and for once, he doesn’t dream.

He wakes up a few hours later, bleary-eyed and confused, especially when he feels like he isn’t alone, which is ridiculous considering there are two other people in the tent. When he blinks away his drowsiness, he lifts his head just to make sure that the others are still sleeping soundly.

That’s when he sees that Chan’s sleeping bag is empty.

He scrambles out of his sleeping bag, nearly tripping over Jisung in the process. Somehow he manages to slip out of the tent without making too much of a racket, though he figures Jisung can sleep through anything, so waking him is the least of his problems.

Once he’s outside the tent, he hisses, “Chan!”

Of course there’s no response, but Changbin has an idea of where to start looking for him.

Right when he climbs through the trees to get to the secluded part of the beach, he finds Seungmin near the dock, waiting for him. He’s pacing back and forth, looking stressed, but he stops when he sees Changbin.

“Changbin,” he says, looking somewhat relieved.

Changbin still isn’t sure if he trusts Seungmin completely, especially since he doesn’t really know what Seungmin is just yet, but he can’t help smiling anyways when he sees Seungmin.

“Hi, Seungmin,” he says. “Beautiful night, isn’t it?”

Seungmin glances up at the sky, again looking slightly worried. “At least the moon is not full yet.”

“Nope, that’s tomorrow,” Changbin says. “Tomorrow’s also my birthday.”

Seungmin’s eyes widen, though he looks like he would have rather not known that.

“What are you up to tonight?” Changbin asks.

“Oh, um.” Seungmin pauses. “I was waiting for you, actually.”

“Really?”

“I wanted to see you. Did you…want to see me too?”

Changbin smiles as he steps forward. “I did. And even on the nights when I don’t see you, I dream of you.”

Seungmin gives a soft smile at that. In the pale moonlight, Changbin thinks he can see the faintest trace of pink on Seungmin’s face.

“I hate to do this to you, but I have to ask you something,” Changbin says.

“Ask me anything,” Seungmin says.

“Have you seen my friend Chan by chance? I think he might have wandered off and gotten lost like Jisung did. _And_ I have a feeling he might have met someone, which is why he hasn’t come back yet. Do you know anything about that?”

Seungmin hesitates before admitting, “I do.”

“Can you lead me to him again?”

Seungmin’s expression almost turns pained. Changbin quickly adds, “It’s alright if you can’t. I know there might be some bigger forces in play here.”

“I’m sorry,” Seungmin says.

“That’s alright.” Changbin smiles at him, even if his heart is pounding and he feels sick to his stomach with worry for Chan. How long has Chan been gone, anyways? “Also, I’ve been meaning to ask you—what do you do all day, anyways? Do you just hang around here?”

“I spend most of my time in the forest,” Seungmin replies, seeming to relax now that they’ve moved on to safer topics. “But I like coming out at night. It’s much more peaceful at night.”

“Peaceful, yes,” Changbin says. “But also terrifying.”

“Oh, it’s not so bad once you get used to it,” Seungmin says.

Easy for him to say, Changbin thinks. Seungmin is probably the most dangerous thing in this forest—of course he wouldn’t be scared of anything else.

“Can I ask _you_ something?” Seungmin asks.

Changbin smiles. “Anything.”

“Do you…have more songs to play? I really liked the ones you played last night, so I was just wondering…” Seungmin trails off, fidgeting.

Changbin blinks, then smiles. “I do! Well, not _on_ me, since my phone is back at the tent.”

“Oh.” Seungmin seems disappointed.

“But I can go get it, if you’d like.”

Seungmin’s face lights up at that. “I would love that.”

Changbin smiles again. “Stay right there, I’ll be right back. Oh, and keep an eye out for Chan for me!”

He dashes away without waiting for Seungmin’s response.

Jisung is still snoring (and drooling) away in the tent when Changbin slips back inside and grabs his phone. Changbin is relieved that he doesn’t have to worry about Jisung wandering off right now. He can only focus on finding one friend at a time.

Back at the beach, Seungmin is exactly how Changbin left him. Changbin smiles at him as he walks up, and Seungmin smiles back.

“Here, let’s listen to some of our newer stuff…” Changbin decides to play “Hoodie Season.” He glances up at Seungmin as the music starts, just to see Seungmin still smiling at him.

In the back of Changbin’s mind, he starts to wonder. If Seungmin really is some supernatural creature, how long has it been since he’s heard any kind of music other than the song he sings every night? It must be difficult, singing the same thing over and over again.

But then Changbin remembers that Seungmin also supposedly seduces and lures young people to their deaths with that song, so he doesn’t feel quite so bad for him in that aspect anymore.

Once the song finishes, Seungmin exhales, like he’s finally at peace.

“That one was just as lovely,” he tells Changbin.

“I’m glad you like our music so much,” Changbin says with a smile.

Seungmin smiles back, then glances over his shoulder. “Oh, look, there’s your friend, Chan.”

Changbin turns to look at the forest. There, walking through the trees, is Chan, though he’s deep in conversation with another stranger. Changbin thinks that this stranger is Felix, but when they draw nearer, he sees that it is not. It’s a different young man, even more ethereal than Seungmin and Felix, with a slightly pointy nose, graceful cheekbones, and warm, sparkling eyes. He’s smiling fondly at whatever Chan is saying.

“Another one of your friends?” Changbin asks Seungmin.

“Yes,” Seungmin says quietly. “Minho.”

“Minho,” Changbin repeats. “How many friends do you have?” He figures he should at least know how many potential otherworldly young men they have to avoid. At the moment, three is enough.

“Two,” Seungmin says.

“Are they all like you?” Changbin asks.

Seungmin seems slightly surprised at the question. “Yes. We’re all the same. But…” his face grows worried. “We’re also not what we seem. Keep in mind, Changbin, that being overly cautious is never a bad idea. Maybe even cautious to the point where you keep your distance.”

Changbin frowns at that, but at that moment, Chan spots him.

“Oh, Changbin,” he says, looking surprised. “What are you doing up?”

“What are _you_ doing up, huh?” Changbin asks. “Wandering off just like you told us not to do?”

“I, uh, well.” Chan glances at the other stranger—Minho—and blushes. “I went to the bathroom, and—”

Changbin cuts him off with a dismissive wave of the hand. “Never mind. We should probably head back to the campsite. And go to bed.”

“Right.” Chan is still blushing. His ears are bright red, visible even in the pale moonlight. “Uh, lead the way?”

“Nope, you first.” Changbin smiles and gestures toward the campsite.

Chan groans but turns to look at Minho. “I, uh, had a lot of fun. You’re a great listener.”

“We should do this again,” Minho says with a smile that makes his eyes sparkle.

“I plan on it,” Chan says.

Changbin exchanges glances with Seungmin, who looks just as worried as he feels.

“Have a good night, Seungmin,” Changbin says softly.

“And you as well, Changbin,” Seungmin replies.

Changbin gives him one last smile before turning and walking away. He has to reach out and grab Chan by the back of the collar in order to tug him away from Minho. Chan yelps and says, “Okay, okay! I am _coming_! Jeez.”

Changbin doesn’t respond, and he doesn’t slow down until they’re back inside their tent.

Jisung wakes up at that point, blinking at them groggily, mumbling, “Sup guys? Did you stop to look at the stars or somethin’?”

“Go to sleep, Jisung,” Changbin says.

“Mm, yeah, okay.” Jisung snuggles back into his sleeping bag without hesitation. He’s asleep again in seconds.

Changbin pauses from settling into his own sleeping bag to look at Chan. “You’re not going to run off again, are you?”

“No,” Chan says. “I promise.”

“Okay.” Reluctantly, Changbin lays down.

He stays awake for another half hour, just to make sure Chan doesn’t try to run off again as soon as he closes his eyes. But Chan falls into a deep sleep, and Changbin allows himself to relax.

The moment he finally closes his eyes, he dreams of Seungmin. Seungmin, and his strange words.

_Keep in mind, Changbin, that being overly cautious is never a bad idea. Maybe even cautious to the point where you keep your distance._

The words echo in his mind, clinging to every moment of his dreams.

*

Jisung wakes Changbin up the next day by flopping on top of him, knocking the wind out of him and scaring the absolute shit out of him. Changbin jerks awake, ready to fight, but then Jisung exclaims, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY BINNIE!”

“Ow,” Changbin says, since that was _right_ in his ear.

“Chan’s making a super special breakfast for our _super special_ Binnie, so you better get up or else we’re gonna eat it all!” Jisung bounces a little, putting more pressure on Changbin’s body and making Changbin groan.

“Okay, okay, I’m getting up, I’m getting up,” Changbin wheezes.

“Yay!” Jisung rolls off of Changbin, successfully squeezing the _rest_ of the air out of Changbin’s lungs, and starts to get up when he remembers something. “Oh, wait! One more thing!”

Before Changbin can ask what it is, Jisung grabs his face and plants a fat, wet kiss on Changbin’s forehead.

“Okay, all done now!” Jisung grins at Changbin’s expression and runs out of the tent, giggling to himself.

Changbin snorts and wipes at his forehead. Then he groans once again before dragging himself up and out of his sleeping bag.

The moment he steps outside the tent, the smell of fresh bacon and coffee reaches his nose. He inhales deeply, smiling and salivating a little. 

“He lives!” Chan says from the picnic table, grinning. “Morning, birthday boy.”

“Are you making bacon?” Changbin asks, his eyes going right to the portable grill and skillet.

“And blueberry pancakes,” Chan says.

“It smells so good,” Jisung says, already chewing on a piece of bacon. “Mm, tastes good too!”

“Hey, don’t eat all of those! Those are for Changbin!” Chan swats at him with a spatula.

“This looks _amazing,_ guys,” Changbin says. “Thank you so much.”

“Anything for you on your special day!” Chan grins.

They take their time eating breakfast and drinking coffee (though Jisung is already so hyper that he does _not_ need more caffeine—Changbin knows he’s going to crash around mid-afternoon). Then Chan and Jisung clean up while Changbin gets ready.

Soon they’re in the car and heading back to the swim beach in town, where Chan surprises Changbin by renting two paddle boards. Jisung is too nervous to go on one by himself, so he goes with Changbin on his paddle board while Chan gets his own. Then they explore the entire lake, even pausing in a little cove of sorts, where Chan decides to jump off his paddle board and then swims up beside Changbin and Jisung’s board to grab onto Jisung’s leg. Changbin helps by shoving Jisung, who screams as Chan tugs him into the water. Changbin laughs at that, but of course then Jisung retaliates by flipping over the paddle board from underneath.

At that point, both of their paddle boards start drifting away, and they have to swim after them to get them back.

“Hey, look, there’s the campground!” Jisung says a little while later, when they’re back on the boards and paddling along the lake’s shoreline. “There’s our tent!”

“It doesn’t look like anyone’s broken into it, right?” Chan says.

“Oh yeah, all of our stuff is _everywhere,_ ” Changbin says sarcastically.

Chan snorts, and they keep paddling.

Changbin stops paddling when they pass the section of the beach that he always meets Seungmin on. He scans the secluded area, hoping to see Seungmin there, but he knows that Seungmin probably only comes out at sunset or at night.

The beach is empty. He sighs as they paddle on.

They return the paddle boards just after noon, then wander back into town to get some lunch. After that, Chan suggests a short hike to some ruins nearby, and the two of them agree.

The ruins are really just an old mining town, one of the first to be established in this area, and also the first to be abandoned. Changbin hopes that there’s a tragic story behind it, maybe another legend or two about the mines, but the truth is that the people just gradually left the area when the ground didn’t yield any gold.

“Oh, hey, there’s a historic train ride,” Chan says when they’re in the gift shop. The building is the old train station, and the original train tracks still go right past it. “Hey, Bin, you’d be interested in that?”

“Sure,” Changbin says.

“Trains are cool,” Jisung says.

“It’s an old steam-powered train,” Chan says. “Goes through the mountains _and_ through a tunnel, apparently.”

“Ooh, tunnel!” Jisung says. “Also, they say they have mine tours—if we have time, can we do that too?”

“We’ll see,” Chan says. “I wish I’d known about this place sooner—we could have spent a lot more time here.”

They buy tickets for the train ride and wait outside for the train to arrive. When it does, it whistles so loudly that Jisung covers his ears. They present their tickets to the conductor, then climb aboard. The train isn’t like most trains, as it doesn’t have walls, really—just bench seats and a roof. Changbin is almost glad for it, since it allows a breeze to drift through.

The train starts chugging along, though slower than Changbin expected. The conductor—and also the tour guide—starts talking over the speakers, directing their attention to different parts of the area on either sides of the track while also telling historical anecdotes and facts. They have to stop at one point to shoo a couple of mountain goats off the tracks. Jisung almost falls out of the window of the train trying to get a picture.

The train ride isn’t that exciting. Changbin enjoys looking at the scenery more than anything.

However, his ears _do_ prick up when he hears the conductor mention something about local superstitions.

“The people who settled here were hardy folk, though a bit superstitious,” the conductor is saying. “Some of them reported hearing singing in the woods at night, usually on nights with a full moon, while others would talk about seeing beautiful young maidens walking through the woods. Some even claimed to have seen groups of those young maidens dancing in rings of mushrooms or flowers after midnight. Now, if any of you know your folklore, then you’ll know that that means bad news.”

Jisung and Chan aren’t listening; they’re too busy making faces at each other and photobombing each other’s pictures, but Changbin is on the edge of his seat, hanging onto every last word the conductor says.

“There have also been disappearances of livestock, crops, and people as well, all of which occurred around the full moon each month,” the conductor is saying. “The people at the time had no other explanation than to claim that it was faeries behind all of the singing, dancing, and trickery. We now know that there were large amounts of lead in the wells here, leading to mass hallucinations, which explains why people were hearing singing late at night. However, while we’ve since cleaned up the lead contamination, visitors to the park still report hearing someone singing as well as seeing strange young people dancing in the forest under a full moon. Fortunately for you, we sell faerie charms of iron and rowan in the gift shop, so you won’t be tempted to join any of those dances anytime soon! Now, if you look to your right, you’ll see a fascinating tree, called the _juniper—_ ”

Changbin stops listening after that, mostly because his heart is pounding.

He knows what Seungmin is, now.

*

“So, how’s your birthday going so far?” Chan elbows Changbin playfully, smiling. They’re at dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant in town, one that apparently serves the best pizza in the world.

“Good.” Changbin smiles. “Thank you, for doing this for me. I love you guys.”

“Aw, we love you too.” Chan leans over and hugs him.

“Do you love us enough to share the free desert you get?” Jisung asks, and Chan shoves him.

They all get individual pizzas (as well as unlimited breadsticks and salad, which Chan enjoys immensely), and Changbin can definitely agree with the restaurant’s claim of being the best pizza in the world. The desert is even better, though Changbin slightly wants to kill Chan and Jisung after they tell the waitress that it’s his birthday, causing the staff to gather around the table and sing for him. It’s awkward as hell, but Changbin keeps a smile on his face and a look in his eye reserved for Chan and Jisung that says, _I’m going to kill you two for this_. Both Chan and Jisung grin back at him without shame.

But of course, Changbin still shares his free desert with the two of them. It’s almost better than the pizza.

While they wait for the waitress to run Chan’s credit card, Changbin pulls out his phone. He only gets service in the town, so he takes advantage of it. After checking in with the world, he googles one last thing that has been nagging at the back of his mind.

_Yellowwood National Park disappearances_

The website for the park pops up first, and then there are reviews that Changbin has to scroll through, but finally he gets to some old news reports from twenty years ago.

One of them catches his eye and makes him go rigid.

 _Four college students missing over holiday weekend,_ the headline says. Underneath is the article, which mentions that three friends were camping over the weekend and that after four days, all but one of them were missing.

Changbin reads over the names and feels his heart skip a few beats.

_Lee Felix, 20. Lee Minho, 22._

_Only Kim Seungmin, 20, was left in the end. Kim had sent in reports to the park rangers and local police officers each day, telling of the disappearances of his two friends and asking for a formal search_ , the article says. _Despite his pleas, no search was conducted until a few days after the disappearances. The search team found no signs of the students, and, after only a week of searching, dropped the case._

“Whatcha looking at?” Jisung leans over Changbin’s shoulder to look at his phone.

“Oh, um, just the story behind Chan’s scary story,” Changbin says.

“Told you, it’s a true story,” Chan says.

“I’m starting to realize that,” Changbin says.

He scrolls to the bottom of the article, where he finds a link to another article, written a year later. He clicks on it, though he already knows what it’ll say just from the headline.

_College student searching for missing friends disappears in Yellowwood National Park._

Below the headline is a school picture of Seungmin. He looks so young and innocent with that small, polite smile on his face and those warm eyes. He also looks the exact same nineteen years later.

At that moment, the waitress returns with Chan’s credit card, and they get up to leave.

Changbin is thinking about the news articles and the stories about faeries as they drive back to the campsite. He’s so caught up in his thoughts that he forgets about the last part of his birthday.

“Presents!” Jisung exclaims, shoving a box in Changbin’s face when they’re sitting down at the picnic table. “I’m sorry there aren’t many, but technically this whole trip is one, huge present, so…”

Changbin grins and takes the box from Jisung. “I don’t need many presents when I have _you_.”

“Awww,” Chan says, touched, while Jisung gags.

“But seriously, open it,” Jisung says, smacking Changbin’s arm.

Changbin snorts and tears open the wrapping paper.

Jisung gives him a new pair of headphones, while Chan gives him a new hoodie. Changbin grins and hugs them both, though he also ruffles Jisung’s hair, much to Jisung’s annoyance.

After that, Chan pulls out one more surprise, which is the alcohol that he hid in the cooler this entire time. He brought beer, wine, vodka, and some rum.

“Were you expecting to get wasted every night on this trip or something?” Changbin asks him.

“Hmm? Oh, no, I just wanted to have variety. Want a rum and coke?”

Chan makes them all rum and coke, though he only gives Jisung a little bit, because Jisung complains about it tasting like cough syrup. Jisung ends up with the bottle of wine, and Changbin has to take it away from him after awhile.

They make one last fire and roast more marshmallows (Jisung tries to make the Ultimate S’More by using two marshmallows and three pieces of chocolate). When Chan mentions singing some songs, Jisung’s whole face lights up as he jumps up and runs to the car. He comes back with his old acoustic guitar, points at Changbin, and says, “This song is for a very special person in my life.”

Changbin snorts.

Jisung then strums the guitar and sings, “I love you _bitch_ , and I ain’t never gonna stop loving you, _bitttcchhh—_ ”

“Encore,” Chan says, giving a whoop.

Jisung points at him and starts playing another song.

Changbin just shakes his head, unable to stop himself from giggling, either from the alcohol or just from Jisung’s crackhead personality.

Eventually Jisung settles down, though he still strums the guitar absent-mindedly to himself, looking like he’s in his own world. They all finish their drinks, then sit back and watch the fire or the stars.

Changbin thinks back to the last time they stargazed, when Chan pointed out a shooting star.He thinks about his wish and how it immediately came true. He has already finished writing the rough draft of some lyrics and has put them to a track that Chan wrote a few weeks ago. They fit perfectly, almost like they were meant for each other all along.

Changbin can’t help wondering if Seungmin has to do with his wish coming true. He likes to think that he does.

They plan to stay up late, but when Jisung dozes off and almost falls off the log with his guitar, Chan decides to call it a night. They go through the nightly ritual of cleaning up everything, putting out the fire, and getting ready for bed.

Changbin is smiling when he lays down on his sleeping bag that night.

“Thank you for a great birthday, guys,” he says.

Jisung yawns widely. “Glad you had fun.” He dozes off literally two seconds later.

Chan smiles. “Goodnight, guys. Love you. And happy birthday, Bin.”

“Thanks, Chan,” Changbin says. “Love you…”

They all fall asleep.

*

_Changbin? Changbin!_

Changbin feels like he’s barely shut his eyes before he’s jolting awake again at the sound of someone shouting his name. He sits up, looking around the tent in confusion. Did Chan or Jisung call him? Or was he just dreaming?

He rubs his eyes and glances to the right, where both Chan and Jisung’s sleeping bags are empty.

Changbin scrambles out of the tent, his foot catching on the edge and nearly taking the whole thing down. Outside, the full moon is almost blinding, and he winces from the light.

“Chan!” he shouts, running towards the secluded part of the beach. “Jisung!”

He breaks through the trees and stumbles to a stop when he sees Seungmin standing on the dock, his back to him. He’s practically glowing in the moonlight, and his shoulders are hunched, like he’s trying to make himself smaller. Changbin approaches him, realizing after a moment that Seungmin is trembling.

“Seungmin,” Changbin says softly, but Seungmin flinches anyways. “Are you okay?”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Seungmin says, his voice tight.

“I need to find my friends. And I think you know where they are.”

“Please don’t ask me.”

Changbin takes a step closer, and Seungmin flinches again, even though he isn’t facing him.

“Don’t come any closer!” Seungmin says.

“I know what you are,” Changbin says gently.

“No, you don’t. You have no idea what you’re dealing with. You need to leave before it’s too late.”

“Alright, then I know _who_ you are,” Changbin says. “And I think you know, too, but for some reason the memory has been suppressed all this time.”

“Please leave,” Seungmin whispers.

“No,” Changbin says.

“Not until you find your friends?”

“Not until you look at me.”

Seungmin shakes his head. “You don’t want to see me.”

“I do,” Changbin says, and he means it. He takes another step closer, reaching out towards Seungmin’s hand. “Please. Look at me?”

Seungmin flinches a third time when Changbin takes his hand. There’s something off about Seungmin’s hand. In the past, it was smooth, almost too smooth, to the point where it didn’t feel quite real. Now, it feels too real, too rough and boney and dry. When Changbin takes a closer look at it, he sees that the skin is dark and splotchy in some places and skeletal in others.

There’s that prickling sensation of someone watching him, and he slowly lifts his eyes to meet Seungmin’s.

The moment he sees what Seungmin truly is, a bolt of fear and disgust shoots through him, but just as quickly as it enters, it disappears. Changbin finds himself smiling at Seungmin, and his smile is genuine.

“I see you,” he says.

Seungmin blinks at him, though the movement looks somewhat unnatural. His skin is yellowish and white, almost translucent in some places. Changbin can see bits of his teeth and bone through his skin. Around Seungmin’s mouth, eyes, and nose is nothing but darkness, almost like the skin has sunken in. His eyes themselves are red and bloodshot, the irises broken and bleeding.

He’s terrifying, but Changbin realizes that he isn’t scared of him.

“You’re lovely,” Changbin says.

Seungmin blinks again, surprised. “You’re…you’re not disgusted? Or scared?”

“No,” Changbin says. “Is this your true form? Visible only under the light of a full moon?”

Seungmin nods slowly.

Changbin smiles. “It still feels like you, in a good way. I’m not afraid of you, Kim Seungmin.”

Seungmin gasps at that and takes a step back, almost tugging his hand out of Changbin’s grasp. Changbin tightens his grip just slightly to keep him from slipping away.

“Do you remember?” Changbin asks. “Your name is Kim Seungmin. You were a twenty-year old college student. You came here with your friends, Lee Felix and Lee Minho. They both disappeared, but you knew what happened to them, didn’t you? You knew that the faeries lured them away, and you tried to warn the police about it, but no one would listen. So then a year later, you came back on the same day on the night of a full moon to steal them back. But it didn’t work. You were lured in just like them. And now…you’re a faerie too, aren’t you? Cursed to lure others in with a song, just like you were lured in?”

Seungmin swallows but nods. “On the night of a full moon, the barrier between the faerie realm and the mortal realm opens. Leading up to the full moon, the barrier gets thinner and thinner, which is why you were able to see glimpses of it these past few days.”

“And the moment the sun comes up…the barrier closes?”

Seungmin nods. “For at least another month.”

“That’s not that bad,” Changbin admits.

“That’s according to time in the mortal realm,” Seungmin says. “In the faerie realm, time doesn’t exist. It can speed up or slow down in whichever way it wants. It’s unpredictable.”

“Which is why you still look the same twenty years later.”

Seungmin nods, though he lowers his head.

“Can you lead me to where my friends are?” Changbin asks.

“For a price,” Seungmin says hoarsely.

“A song,” Changbin says.

“A song.” Seungmin hesitates for a moment before admitting quietly, “You were the first and only person to sing with me. All these years, I’ve lured people in with the song just like I was lured in, and no one ever cared to stop and listen. No one but you.”

Changbin reaches out to cup Seungmin’s face. Seungmin startles at his touch, but after a moment, he relaxes and lifts his eyes to Changbin’s.

“I wrote a song for you,” Changbin says.

“You did?”

Changbin nods. “Do you want to hear it?”

“Yes,” Seungmin whispers.

Changbin smiles before starting to sing. He’s not used to singing by himself as much, since he prefers rapping, but his voice is stable and soft, though a bit raspy. He still hits all of the right notes, with all the right emotion, and he can feel in his heart that this is one of his best songs that he’s ever written. The thought makes his heart swell even further, knowing that this song was made possible only because of Seungmin.

When the last note fades away into the night, he smiles at Seungmin once again. Seungmin takes a deep, shaky breath, whispering, “That was beautiful.”

“Just like you,” Changbin says.

Seungmin smiles, though he glances down shyly.

“I’ll take you to them,” he tells Changbin.

“Thank you,” Changbin says.

Seungmin nods and turns away, forcing Changbin to drop his hand from his face. As he starts to walk away, his hand begins to slip from Changbin’s. Changbin tightens his grip, making Seungmin glance over his shoulder at him.

“Tomorrow, after the barrier is closed,” Changbin says, “will I be able to see you again?”

“No,” Seungmin says. “Please don’t ever come back, either. I made that mistake once. I don’t want you to do the same.”

“Even if we could be together?”

Seungmin shakes his head. “It wouldn’t be worth it. You should go back home. Keep making music. Release some of your songs and share them with the world. The world needs your gifts, I think. I think you could bring a lot of people peace and happiness.”

“But you won’t be one of them.”

Seungmin gives a sad smile. “No.”

Changbin squeezes his hand. “I wish you were. There has to be _some way—_ ”

Seungmin is shaking his head. “There isn’t. I’m sorry. I’m sorry it came to this…”

“It’s alright.” Changbin smiles at him. “I’m glad I met you anyways, Kim Seungmin.”

Seungmin just looks away.

“This way,” he says.

He tugs Changbin by the hand to the forest. Changbin didn’t pay attention to it earlier, but now there’s a noticeable shimmer about the forest, almost like someone scattered glitter all about it. Tiny orbs of light flicker in and out of the trees, while mushrooms and flowers pop up and glow in a soft blue light here and there. When they step into the forest, the ground sparkles underneath each footstep, and more glowing mushrooms pop up, creating a path that leads them deeper into the forest.

At first, Changbin looks at the faerie path with wariness, but when Seungmin gives him a reassuring smile, they continue down it.

Changbin also notices that the moment they step into the forest, Seungmin turns beautiful again, where his smooth, pale skin seems to glow in the same soft blue light as everything else. Changbin never thought he could look even more breathtaking, but the more he stares, the more he realizes that he was wrong.

“Try not to stare,” Seungmin says, his head lowered. “It’s part of the magic. It’ll lure you in if you’re not careful.”

Changbin nods and, with great effort, tears his gaze away.

Up ahead, the trees shift and part, revealing another source of blue light. Changbin squints at it, thinking it’s the moon again, but then he hears laughter and music. The path ends, and the two of them end up in a clearing. In the center is another ring of mushrooms, where Chan, Jisung, Felix and Minho are dancing and laughing to some of the most beautiful music Changbin has ever heard.

“Changbin!” Jisung says when he sees him. He holds out his hand. “Come dance!”

Changbin smiles and takes a step forward, thinking that dancing with these friends to this music will be the most enjoyable experience, but Seungmin tugs him backwards.

“Don’t give in,” Seungmin says.

“But it looks so fun,” Changbin says, his voice sounding dreamy, almost.

“Snap out of it, Changbin.”

Just like that, the dreamy feeling vanishes, leaving Changbin feeling the same as he was before—tired and worried, and a little bit sad.

“Thanks,” he tells Seungmin.

“Seungmin!” Felix stops and grins at him, holding Jisung’s hand tightly. “Why are you standing on the edge again? It’s much more fun in the center! Come on!”

Seungmin looks at him and says, “It’s time for them to go home.”

Felix pouts at that. “But the party has just started.”

“They have to go, Felix. We can’t keep them here any longer.”

Felix seems to understand and nods solemnly.

“What’s going on?” Jisung looks at Felix in confusion.

Felix turns to him and gives him a sad smile. “You’re tired, Jisung,” he says, his deep voice even more melodious than before. Jisung seems to sway with every word, his eyes transfixed on him. “You’ve had a lot of fun, haven’t you? But it’s time for you to go home, now.”

“Will I see you again?” Jisung asks.

Felix smiles sadly. “No. In your dreams, maybe.”

“Oh.” Jisung’s shoulders slump. “I’ll miss you.”

Changbin glances at Seungmin, who won’t look at him.

At that moment, Chan and Minho walk up, also hand-in-hand. Chan looks confused, but when he looks at Minho, who has a sad expression on his face, he seems to understand.

“Time to go?” Chan asks.

Minho nods.

Chan gives a small, sad smile before saying, “Can you walk us back to the campsite? I mean, just to make sure we get there safely.”

Minho smiles. “Of course.”

They all walk back through the forest, with another faerie path leading the way. Changbin sneaks glances at Seungmin every now and then, trying to commit him to memory. He doesn’t look for long, knowing that it’s dangerous.

Finally, they reach the edge of the forest, and the campsite comes into view.

“Sleep well,” Seungmin tells Changbin.

“I will,” Changbin says. “I’ll always remember you. Just so you know.”

Seungmin smiles sadly at that. “And I’ll always remember you, Changbin.”

Changbin smiles back at him, and for a moment they just gaze at each other.

Then he releases Seungmin’s hand and takes a step back. Chan comes up behind him, patting him on the shoulder. Changbin turns to go, though he glances at Seungmin one last time.

“Fuck it,” Jisung says, and suddenly he’s grabbing Felix’s face and crashing their lips together.

The moment he does, a blue light erupts between them. Changbin hears someone cry out as he lunges towards Jisung, desperately trying to hold onto him, trying to stop him before he slips away forever—

The blue light vanishes, and everything goes black.

*

Changbin wakes up with a jolt. The tent is full of golden light. The birds are chirping outside. It’s morning.

He groans and reaches up to rub at his eyes, only to frown when he feels something light and powdery dusting them. His fingers come back dotted in glittering particles of silver light, almost like dust from the moon itself.

_Or faerie dust._

Changbin shakes his head and sits up. He looks over at the other two, then goes rigid once again.

There, wrapped in Jisung’s arms, is a kid with golden skin, lilac hair, and freckled skin. A kid who was _definitely_ not there when they went to sleep.

Changbin lets out some sort of choked yelp in disbelief. It’s loud enough to wake the others, and suddenly both Jisung and Felix are stirring. Both of them blink awake, their eyes immediately meeting each other’s.

They take one look at one another and scream.

And _that_ wakes Chan up. He jumps awake, already saying, “What? What’s happening? Who’s attacking?”

“You’re here!” Jisung says, grabbing Felix’s face and smushing his cheeks. “You’re really here! You weren’t just in my dreams!”

Felix shakes his head, his eyes practically shining with happiness and what looks like the beginning of some tears.

“You’re here,” Jisung whispers again before kissing him.

Felix giggles into the kiss, and when they finally part, he wraps his arms around Jisung tightly and buries his face in the crook of his neck.

“I love you,” Jisung says, only to go rigid and whisper, “Was that too soon?”

“No,” Felix says, pulling back and grinning. “Not at all. You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear that.” Then he kisses Jisung once again and says, “I love you too.”

Changbin’s head is reeling. He barely realizes that he’s standing and stumbling out of the tent until the fresh morning air hits him in the face. He stops, his heart pounding, panting like he’s just run a mile.

_Could it be?_

“Bin?” Chan comes up next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder in concern.

“I can see him again,” Changbin whispers, his eyes wide. “I can… _be_ with him.  
He looks at Chan, who’s giving him a soft smile.

“And you can be with Minho,” Changbin says.

“It seems so, yes,” Chan says. “But the barrier is closed. We have to wait another month.”

“It’s better than a year,” Changbin says.

“We have to be careful, though.”

“I know.”

Chan smiles at him. “Good.”

A beat passes before Chan exhales and reaches up to stretch a little.

“I am covered in pine needles and pixie dust,” he says, grinning at Changbin.

Changbin snorts. “Faerie dust.”

“Kind of reminds me of the moon.” Chan reaches up and rubs at his hair, displacing all of the dust. It rains down in a shimmer. Chan tries to catch some of it in his hands. “Pretty. Like Minho. I swear his eyes sparkle like this stuff.”

Changbin rolls his eyes, but he’ll admit that he’s thinking of Seungmin and how he glowed like this dust too.

They can’t take their time getting ready that morning, since they have to check out of their campsite by eleven (and they woke up at ten), so the next hour goes by in a flurry of movement. They manage to pack up by ten forty-five, much to Chan’s relief.

“Alright, last call for bathroom breaks everyone,” he says, corralling everyone towards the car.

Changbin hesitates and looks over his shoulder at the lake one last time, as though he’ll be able to see Seungmin standing on the beach, watching him leave. Instead, he just sees an empty beach and a sparkling lake beyond it.

He sighs and turns to leave, but as he does, he makes a promise in his head.

_I’m coming back for you, Seungmin._

For now, though, he gets into the front passenger seat of the car and leaves with the others.

*

Seungmin doesn’t know how long it’s been. Time doesn’t exist here, so for him, it feels like an eternity, but for all he knows, it’s only been the blink of an eye.

He has tried to count down the days until the next full moon in the past, but it has never worked for him. It’s more of a feeling deep in his gut, that makes his skin crawl, reminding him of what he has become and what he’s cursed to do. All he can do now is pass through his days like he always does, drifting through the faerie realm with Minho.

It’s somewhat quieter now without Felix. Seungmin misses him. But he’s glad that Felix has gotten out. He didn’t think at the time that kissing a mortal would do anything but drag the mortal into the faerie realm for eternity. But Minho has a theory that love plays a major part in it. When he first told Seungmin about it, Seungmin scoffed at the idea.

“Felix only knew him for like two days,” he said. “There’s no way they fell in love enough to turn him mortal again.”

Minho just shrugged. “It’s the only explanation we have.”

Seungmin hated how Minho was right. He still hates it, because he still doesn’t have a better explanation. It’s so naive, thinking true love can solve everything.

And yet…

He tries to remember Changbin’s face, his voice, his songs. He tries to remember the sound of his laugh, or the way he smirked, or the feeling of his hand in his. He tries and tries, thinking that he needs to preserve him in his memory somehow, but it all begins to slip away. He can’t help but think that maybe if he had loved Changbin like Felix had loved Jisung, he would still remember him. Or he’d still be with him, at least.

He knows Minho is trying to remember Chan. He also knows that Minho misses him just as much as Seungmin misses Changbin. It seems that they all failed to do what they were meant to do; instead of seducing three mortal souls, they were seduced by three mortals.

Finally, the full moon returns. Seungmin finds himself on the dock, like usual, with his ghastly features obscured by some charm magic. The campsite that they usually lure mortals from is empty. The people who reserved it did not show up. Seungmin has to sing anyways, knowing that there’s a possibility others nearby will hear it. He just needs one to fulfill his part of the curse.

He starts singing. It’s the same song he always sings, the same song that stole him away all those years ago. It has a more mournful sound now, a sound that he didn’t realize when he first heard it. Perhaps after singing it so much, he has made it his own by putting his own sorrows into it.

He puts his sorrows into it now, mourning the loss of someone he barely knew. He closes his eyes, waiting for someone to approach.

He hears the familiar crunch of a footstep as someone comes towards the beach. He doesn’t open his eyes or turn around. He just waits for them to approach.

At that moment, though, someone else starts singing with him.

Seungmin’s eyes fly open as he whirls around, cutting off mid-song. The other voice stops too, though Seungmin has already heard enough to know whom it belongs to.

Changbin stands on the beach, smiling at him.

Seungmin just stares, forgetting to obscure his terrifying features with the charm magic. He lets all of his defenses down as he stares back at the man he thought he had lost forever.

“Changbin?” he whispers. It can’t really be him. It must be another faerie, using magic to trick him.

“The one and only,” Changbin says. “And you’re Kim Seungmin, in case you’ve forgotten. I know I haven’t.”

It’s him. It’s really, really him.

Seungmin blinks back tears, but then realizes what’s happening. Or, what _will_ happen if Changbin doesn’t leave.

“No, you can’t be here,” he says, shaking his head and taking a step back. “You’ll step into the faerie realm and never return, like I did. You have to _leave_.”

“Oh, I plan on leaving, don’t worry,” Changbin says, stepping forward. “But when I do, you’ll be with me.”

Seungmin stares at him again, his heart beating erratically in his chest. Changbin only comes to a stop when he’s less than a foot away from Seungmin. He smiles up at him with the same affection that he did the first time he saw Seungmin like this. He was never even afraid or disgusted for a moment, and he isn’t like that now.

Seungmin doesn’t know what to say, so he just manages a weak, “How?”

Changbin smiles, cups the side of his face, and kisses him.

The next thing Seungmin knows, there’s a bright blue light, and everything goes black.

He opens his eyes, realizing that he’s laying on something soft and warm. There is more light, though it isn’t as blinding. It’s soft; muted, golden. When he opens his eyes fully, he realizes that he’s in a room—a hotel room? The soft, warm surface he’s lying on is actually Changbin’s chest.

Seungmin blinks, then reaches up to touch his own face. His skin is smooth and warm. It doesn’t feel torn or lumpy. His fingers come back covered in a shimmery silver dust.

Changbin stirs underneath him, and suddenly he’s opening his eyes and peering up at Seungmin. The two of them stare at each other for a few moments. Then Changbin breaks into a lopsided grin, wraps his arms around Seungmin, and pulls him back down for a hug. Seungmin snuggles into him, burying his face in Changbin’s chest. He breathes in the smell of him—a cologne paired with a fabric softener of some sort, so unlike the smell of the forest or the lake. It’s so _Changbin_ that Seungmin wants to breathe it in forever and drown in it.

“You came back,” he whispers.

“I always planned to,” Changbin says. “You’re mortal now.”

“Yes.”

“How does it feel?”

Seungmin breathes in again before lifting his head to meet Changbin’s gaze. Their noses bump. He smiles. “It’s the best feeling in the world,” he says.

Changbin smiles at that.

“Thank you,” Seungmin whispers. “For coming back for me. For not leaving me behind.”

Changbin reaches out and cups Seungmin’s face. Seungmin closes his eyes as Changbin kisses him, softly and sweetly.

When they part, they share another couple of smiles, their eyes shining with happiness.

That’s when Seungmin remembers something, and his smile vanishes as his eyes go wide.

“Minho,” he says. “He’s all alone there, now. I need to—”

“Shh.” Changbin presses a finger to Seungmin’s lips. Then he points to Seungmin’s right.

There, on the other bed in the room, is Minho, covered in blue dust and asleep while curled up in Chan’s arms. Seungmin lets out a sigh of relief as he smiles.

“How are Felix and Jisung?” he asks.

“Ridiculously affectionate,” Changbin says, smirking. “Every time I saw them being all adorable together, it made me jealous. And it made me miss you. This past month was the longest of my life, I swear.”

Seungmin hums as he rests his head on Changbin’s chest again. “For me, too.”

“But it was worth it,” Changbin says, taking Seungmin’s hand and playing with his fingers. “I would do it all again if it meant we were together in the end.”

“You know I would do the same.”

“Hey, Seungmin?”

“Yes, Changbin?”

“I love you.”

Seungmin smiles and lifts his head again. “I love you too,” he says. “And no, that wasn’t too soon.”

Changbin grins and kisses him again.

“So,” Seungmin says as they settle down. “What’s the real world like after twenty years?”

“Different. Very different. But, at the same time, it’s the exact same as you left it.”

“Hmm. You’ll help me navigate through it, right?”

“Mm, maybe. For a price.” Changbin grins again.

Seungmin arches an eyebrow. “A kiss?”

“Or a song.”

“How about both?”

“Deal! But for now, I’m tired, so let’s just sleep here together, okay?”

“Mm, okay.”

They’ll have to get up soon, but for now, they pretend like they have all the time in the world. Both are safe and warm and comfortable, but more importantly, they’re together.

So for now, they lie together in the warm morning sun and enjoy the moment.


End file.
